A Touch of Starlight
by lotrfangirl16
Summary: A young elven princess is forced by a curse to marry the Elven Prince of Mirkwood. Will she learn to love him as she is faced with many trials?
1. Chapter 1

**A TOUCH OF STARLIGHT**

 **Prologue**

 **Once, in Middle Earth, there lived an elven king and queen. They were gentle, fair, just, and compassionate. Every person in the small kingdom of Anarion loved them deeply, and treated them with the utmost respect. The kingdom was peaceful, prosperous, and happy.**

 **A time came when the Queen was blessed with a baby girl. The whole kingdom rejoiced, and celebrated for a week to commemorate the birth of the baby princess. The king and queen loved their daughter exceedingly, as did the subjects. The little girl had soft dark brown hair, and eyes that were as blue as the night sky. At her christening, the king and queen named the little one Aewen Elenariel Elemmire Magoriell. At her christening, a kindly wizard, named Olorin, (Gandalf) granted a gift to the child, a single gift. The kind old man gave little Aewen a small clear pendant on a string, filled with a bluish sort of liquid. He gave instructions to the king and queen to have Aewen drink the liquid when she turned 1600. No one knew what the liquid could do, but the king and queen trusted Gandalf all the same, and invited him to stay for the remainder of the party. Gandalf, being the kind-hearted wizard that he was, agreed, and set off several magnificent fireworks that made the party even more fabulous.**

 **When the third day was over, the king and queen quietly went to their child's personal chamber. Queen Elaniel gently stroked little Aewen's soft cheeks, and the King Magor smoothed her hair. Aewen's parents truly loved her even before she could understand that they did. However, on the fourth day of the party, an old witch attended the festivities. The king and queen allowed the witch to enter and celebrate with them, but they were quite uneasy. The witch had been known for curses beyond all pain, fear, and anguish.**

 **All seemed to go well, at first. But, when the witch was denied a chance to see the child, and bestow upon her a gift, she cursed the child: that if she did not find love by the day her sixteen hundredth birthday ended, she would die, and her soul would wander in the Void forever.**

 **Upon hearing the curse, the queen fell unconscious with fear, and the king ordered his guards to kill the witch. But after the witch was dead, and her body lay cold upon the ground, Gandalf stepped forward.**

" **It will not end the curse." He said. "The curse will only end if she does as the witch said before."**

" **What can we do?" the king asked desperately, trying to revive the queen.**

" **I will do several things." Gandalf said. "First, I will make her forget everything that happened today. She must not know anything about her royal background."**

" **Yes, and what else?" The queen asked, rather groggily, for she had just woken up.**

" **You must let her go somewhere else….where she will be safe." Gandalf stroked his beard. "And you must arrange a marriage for her."**

" **Arrange a marriage for her?" The king asked, bewildered. "But why? What if she does not fall in love with the man we arrange for her? It will do nothing."**

" **No, my dear friend, it will do something. It will give her a head start. Which is much better, if you ask me, than nothing."**

" **Alright." The king nodded slowly. "Who do you have in mind?"**

 **Gandalf smiled.**

 **CHAPTER 1**

 **I arose from her bed and groaned. Today was Thursday….the day was to meet the Elven prince of Mirkwood…**

 **My betrothed.**

 **Why, I will never know. I honestly don't even know who my parents are. But I do know that whoever they are, they arranged a marriage for me in about four months. Which means that I actually have to meet this guy who is supposed to love me.**

 **I take care of myself. The old woman, Raina, who used to live with me, left me when I turned 1500. So now, I do everything that I need to keep myself alive.**

 **I bathe myself, and after I dry off, I put on a thin, light blue dress. I pull my hair up into a braided bun, and after much hesitation, I decide not to wear shoes. I am not really all about first impressions. I mean, even if I turned into an ogre today, and became ten feet tall, the prince would still have to marry me. Because of the arrangement. Which is a promise, I can assure you.**

 **But if it wasn't, I wouldn't be throwing a fit, either. The choice would be mine, and I know what decision I would make, too. How do I know that I will never find anyone else to love?**

 **I run in a very unladylike manner outside, and begin to pick some flowers from the garden that I grow outside. The area that I live in is near to Lorien, and the grounds are beautiful. Colorful flowers of all shapes and sizes grow everywhere. Two small stone cottages sit upon the hilltop in the distance. I have several horses, fine bred, and faster than any Mirkwood horse. I ride them almost every day, for long amounts of time. It helps me get my mind off of my future engagement. I also have three little dragons that were hidden by their mother, who was killed by a huntsman a few months ago. They are very sweet, loyal, and protective. There are two girls, and one boy: Zelda, Ella, and Kanji. The hills in the valley I live in are green, and lush, the wildlife healthy and thriving. I wish I didn't have to leave this place.**

 **I hear from passing travelers that Mirkwood is a dark, ghostly place inhabited by two things: the Mirkwood elves, and the Mirkwood spiders. Ugh. I am moving into a land with spiders. Great.**

 **Not that killing the spiders would be really hard for me. I hunt for a living. I kill orcs when I come across them. I am not afraid to kill, when the situation calls for it. A lot of the passing huntsmen that came through here used to think that I was scrawny and weak. Now….they think a lot differently. At least if they value their heads.**

 **No one is safe around me. I am reckless, merciless (unless I want to be), and almost fearless. And I will be the first to admit it, I'm afraid of heights. Which is not normal for elves, at all.**

 **After I feed Zelda, Ella, and Kanji, I head towards the hills to pick flowers.**

 **When I reach the top of one tall, beautiful hill I call "The Beast", I lay down in the soft, green grass, and close my eyes. For the last time that I will be able to do so without hundreds of pairs of eyes gazing at me.**

 **Everything is dark. Then, all of a sudden, I see a young blonde elf riding a white horse through a forest, calling a name desperately. I listen closer, and then I realize that he is calling my name.**

 **Why is he calling my name? Who is this? The elf rides on and on through the forest endlessly, never stopping. Suddenly, a spider, bigger than the cottage I live in, appears from behind a clump of dark trees. Screeching, it attacks the elf. I wish, with all my heart, that I could do something in this vision of mine. If I was in it, I would cut the spider to bits. Doesn't this elf know how to fight?**

 **But he does. Whipping out twin daggers, he attacks the foul creature, cutting off its legs and stabbing it. The spider dies, but then, six more come to join it.**

 **I'll give this elf some credit, he's pretty good. But six is a lot to handle alone, and more are coming.**

 **But wait…..I am in this dream! I jump out of a tree unexpectedly and begin to fight the spiders. The blonde elf notices me and screams:**

" **Aewen?! What are you doing here?" he cries. "You have to leave. Now!"**

" **No!" I scream. "I will never leave you."**

 **Suddenly, a pack of orcs joins the battle. One comes towards me as I am unprepared, and throws me to the ground. It then lifts its long sword to kill me.**

 **The blonde elf, seeing this, jumps in front of the blade, barely in time. The sword plunges deep into his body, and blood gushes out by the second. I throw a knife at the orc, and it dies.**

 **The other orcs were busy, apparently killing the other spiders. The blonde elf, looking deep into my soul with his piercing blue eyes, says:**

" **Aewen, I love you."**

 **He falls limp. I am too exhausted and shocked to even cry, but all I want to do is find a way to bring him back to life.**

 **The orcs then move towards me, swords lifted.**

 **I can only close my eyes now as their blades come down on me.**


	2. Chapter 2

A Touch of Starlight Chapter 2

When I awaken from my vision, I find myself in a cold sweat. I stretch as I sit up, and walk back to the cottage to get ready for the journey to Mirkwood.

Are they expecting me to dress royally? I am only a commoner, really, so they can't expect me to dress like a queen.

I decide to put on any dress I please. The prince has to marry me anyway, whether I put on a fancy dress or not. I finally settle on a soft mint green dress with faint silver embroidery around the neckline.

After I lace up my combat boots, I look at myself in the mirror. _I don't look too bad…_ I think. The combat boots are a bit out of place, but I don't have anything fancier. I have never needed anything else.

Deep in thought, I tuck several tiny white flowers into my long, dark braid. They look kind of pretty in my hair, especially with the dress. I grab my satchel and head out the door, to the stables.

After I mount Daeroch, my faithful black stallion, I ride off into the distance, towards Mirkwood.

The forest is dark, rightly told. I keep a careful eye out for the spiders. Ok, maybe I'm a bit scared of spiders. But I wouldn't call it _scared_. I would just say that I have a healthy fear of them. I have my dagger ready, and my bow right beside me, just in case some unfortunate foul beast should jump out and challenge me.

Well, I'll be ready for them.

Daeroch seems a bit nervous as we wander through the trees. His ears are slightly down, and he moves slower than normal. He even twitches nervously as he hears several rather eerie sounds that I bet are quite normal for the Woodland Realm.

I am a bit surprised, actually. This is not my wild, carefree stallion who bucks most of his riders off and runs faster than the wind.

The wind blows at an eerie pace here, just enough to keep the stray leaves moving, and to add a creepy feel to the atmosphere. _Like it wasn't frightening enough already._

But I will have to get used to it. I have no other choice. I am getting married to the Prince of this place, who probably spends most of his time out here killing spiders. So yeah, I'll have to get used to it.

Will we have anything in common? I really don't know. I mean, if he likes weapons, he has a good start. But if he is looking for a wife who is going to sit inside and sew all day, _he is not going to get one._

I may be an elleth, but weapons and fighting are what eases me. It is what makes me feel comfortable. Not going to parties and dressing up and doing the boring girly stuff.

But if he tries to make me do this sort of stuff all day, he is going to pay for it. And dearly. I do not intend to waste my life stitching on a cushion and parading around in a ball gown.

Suddenly, Daeroch neighs in fear, bringing me out of my trance. The trees, dark and ghostly, nearly covered with webs, are creaking, some breaking. I draw out my bow and nock an arrow to the string.

And none too soon, it appears.

A huge, ugly spider appears from behind the broken tree, and shrieks. When it charges towards me, I let my arrow fly.

The arrow hits home, right into the eye of the creature. As it squeals in pain, I draw my knife down upon its head. It falls limp to the ground.

Now I am fully alert and prepared. If there is one spider, there are usually more, a pack waiting somewhere close around it.

They show up a bit sooner than I was hoping for, tons of huge, ugly, menacing spiders. There are about ten of them. I think I can handle it.

As I slash a dagger into one's head, I let another arrow fly into another. As one gets close to me, I let a spare dagger fly into it's face. I grab the dagger back as another one leaps towards me. I duck, and stab the knife deep into the spider's heart. I use my arrows to kill four more, leaving only two.

It is only then that I notice that more are coming. They are bigger, and uglier.

I can't handle this many alone. I can only hope that I can hold them until help comes. If help comes.

I fight them off until I notice something that I was not at all prepared for.

The Queen.

She is about three times the size of the other spiders, a lot uglier, and has four tusks coming from her foul mouth. She rears up as she sees me, and begins climbing down the hill.

Heaven help me now.

I hope that I can get all the spiders killed by the time the Queen gets to me. Then I may, just may, stand a chance.

But more are still coming. I will fight to the death, but I know that I stand no chance, alone.

But wait, am I alone?

I feel a small glow of light coming from that same hill. The glow of another elf.

I can see the elf now. I gasp.

 _The same one from my dreams._


	3. Chapter 3

A Touch of Starlight Chapter 3

I sigh in relief. Help has come.

But wait? Is all of this the same as what happened in my dream? What if everything really happens?

I don't have any feelings for this elf, but I don't want him to die. I'm not that cruel, or heartless.

I scream at him: "You have to leave!"

But he is already down here, fighting alongside me, covering me. I try again.

"Please! You have to leave!"

He turns to me, shaking his head.

 _Who is this elf?_ I wonder. _Why does he care so much about me?_

But he just won't leave, and its not as if I could just drag him off and make him stay out of it. Plus, the spiders have noticed him as well, and they aren't just going to forget about him.

And since he won't leave, I am definitely not going to make myself look like a damsel-in-distress. _Over my dead body._

I move back into the battle, slashing and shooting and killing spiders. Finally, I get a good angle to shoot at the queen. As I let the arrow fly, the elf does the same. For good measure, I throw a dagger alongside it with my spare arm.

The queen shrieks with pain, and struggling to move back at us, she dies.

Now since all of the spiders are dead, and there aren't any other creatures showing up to kill us, I have to introduce myself in a civilized fashion. _Groan._

However, the elf does it for me.

"Who are you?" he asks. "And why are you here?"

"What is it to you?" I ask, lifting my head proudly.

He gives a tiny smile. "You are clearly not a subject of the Woodland Realm. It is my job to keep it safe."

"Well," I say, "You can't be doing a good job right now. I mean, like, this place is creepier than Angmar. And the spiders don't help."

"Mirkwoods patrols destroy spider nests as we speak." He says. "Our patrols go out daily to kill them. It is not our fault that they keep coming."

"Find their source." I suggest.

"No." he says, quite loudly. "My father will not allow it."

"Well, whoever your father is, he isn't doing a good job of helping to keep his kingdom safe. And who is your father? If he is not the king, he shouldn't be the one giving orders."

"You will hold your tongue." He says, pointing a dagger at me. "My father is the king."

"Which means you are…" I inwardly groan. I should have known better.

"The Prince." He says, with a cold look. "Yes, that is me. And I suppose now that you know who I am, you will speak respectfully to me."

To say yes would be to admit that I am a fool. I don't want to speak cruelly to him, being he is my betrothed, but I will not lower my head before this person until he shows me respect.

"Not until you show respect to me."

"Why should I?"

"Don't **you** know who I am?" I ask. He probably doesn't know who I am, but if I can rub it in his face that he didn't know who his betrothed was, I will. After all, he disrespected me as a woman.

"No, I believe I do not."

"I am very surprised, indeed. My name is Aewen Magoriell, and you will show me the respect I deserve as your betrothed or you will not see daylight for a long time."

He doesn't look panicked, but his face does turn visibly pale.

"They said you couldn't fight." He says, mumbling.

"What did you say?" I lift my knife. If he is trying to imply that I can't fight, he will regret it.

"Nothing." He says, offering me his hand, "Let me show you back to My Father's halls."

"Oh, so now you speak respectfully to me." I look at him with disdain. "I would have thought you to be more courteous than that, being you are the Prince. But it will be what it will be. I have no choice in this matter, but if I did, I would have chosen differently."

I refuse his hand and walk on alone. He walks beside me, but we do not speak.

When we reach the halls, I have to admit that even though the forest is frightening, the palace is beautiful, in its own way. It isn't decorated with ornate things a palace of men would typically have, rather, it relys on the beauty and grace from natural things, like trees, water, starlight…all of which make the place beautiful.

I feel a bit out of place, all sweaty, dirty, and bloody. But they will have to endure it, for at least the time being.

As we go further into the palace, The prince begins to speak to me.

"I am Legolas." He says. "I wish I could have received you in a more courteous manner."

"Are you sure you really mean that?" I look towards him. "I am probably a great disappointment to you. Please be honest with me, I hate liars."

"No, Aewen." He uses my name for the first time. "I am not disappointed in you. I am actually quite relieved."

"How so?"

"I was worried that you would be like the other elleths. I need a partner in life who will be willing to endure pain, sorrow, and suffering to be with me. Someone who cares for more than gowns and parties."

I am silent. I really don't know what to say.

"Aewen."

I look towards him.

"I believe that you will be just perfect."


	4. Author's Note

Author's Note

I just wanted to say: Thank you to all my reviewers! It makes me so happy and keeps me writing! Thank you so much!


	5. Chapter 5

A Touch of Starlight-Chapter 4

Even though Legolas is being kind to me, I am not convinced that he is the right one for me. How do I know he isn't just playing a role until we are married, and plans to be rude and unkind to me afterwards? I have to be careful in whom I trust with my love. Whoever earns my love will have earned a great achievement. My love is not given often.

Legolas begins to show me around the halls, and I find as I go deeper and deeper in that I do really like this place, even if some of the people here aren't really that great.

Legolas then breaks some news to me.

"Aewen, we have to go to my father."

"Why?" I am surprised.

"He will want to meet you."

"Oh, ok. He can't be that bad, can he?"

Somehow I didn't notice Legolas' pale face at that moment.

When I see the king, I am awestruck. In a neutral way, I'm not like amazed at his splendor or anything like that, but just plain awestruck.

He sits regally upon his throne, wearing a long robe of red with a long cape of silver. His long, silver blonde hair frames a serious, proud face. A crown of some sort made of branches and red leaves sits atop his head. He is a pretty tall person, and when he stands up and looks at me, I feel a sudden wave of panic flow over me.

But I quickly dismiss it. Since when have I been afraid of anything or anyone before? I wasn't afraid of Legolas, why am I afraid of his father?

Although, I have to admit, any normal person would pretty much just wither under that penetrating gaze of his.

He slowly, but proudly walks down the many steps leading from his throne. He doesn't speak until he has reached the ground. But after hearing him speak, I kind of liked the silence better.

"So you are the one promised to my son."

"Uh, yeah, that's me." I say, but the king interrupts.

"I did not give you permission to speak."

Legolas throws an apologetic glance in my direction.

"What I am very much interested in, though," he begins to circle me. "Is this." He points to my outfit.

"Where have you been?"

"Do I have permission to speak now?" I ask, a bit sarcastically, but without waiting for an answer, I continue. "Actually, I have been in your forest. Defending my life."

He throws me the most withering glare I have ever seen.

"Did you not have an escort?"

"Obviously not."

"Why not?"

"I lived alone before this." I throw him a glare. What business does he have in my personal life?

"Surprising, really." He says. "I would imagine, that being royalty, you would never leave without a guard, much less travel without one."

"Wait, royal?" I ask, confused. However, Legolas steps in to defend me.

"They were probably all busy." He says, trying to deter the king.

"Too busy to protect their heir? Impossible."

I try to follow along with Legolas. "It doesn't really matter. I'm here, aren't I?" I try to sound cheerful.

The king looks me in the eye, and says slowly: "Yes….you are…"

He appears to be deep in thought. Legolas begins to lead me away, but the king speaks again.

"Show her to her chamber, Legolas. She can join **us** for **dinner**."

He acts as if joining him for dinner is such a privilege. Actually, at the moment, I would rather eat with the servants. But they will never let me get away with that.

Legolas leads me away, down the halls.

When we reach my chamber, he opens the door for me. I step inside.

"Everything here is yours." He says. "It is all for your use."

"Thank you." I say, softly.

"I will see you soon." He says, and walks away.

After I bathe myself, I look around at things for the first time. The room is very large. In the corner lies a huge four poster bed at least three times the size of the one I had back home. A large window lies right beside it. There is a bookshelf by the door, and a writing desk close to my bed. A huge armoire sits between both, but there is plenty of space. A dressing table sits over in a small nook on the other side of the door. There is another window above the writing desk. Another small cabinet is posted right next to my bed. I open it to discover a bow, a quiver of arrows, two daggers, and a small sword.

Legolas must have been hoping to train me to fight. I close the cabinet after testing the bow, which is in good condition, made of the finest wood. The string is sound, and tight.

I open the armoire. Inside are plenty of gowns fit for a princess of Mirkwood, and in the corner I see one lone battle outfit, and a set of armor, clearly fitted for a woman. More proof that Legolas wanted to train me.

Judging from Thranduil's way of judging me before, I don't think it would be wise to show up for dinner in a suit of armor or a battle outfit.

I grab a lavender gown with a lacy edging, and slip it over my head.

Then I hear a knock on the door.

A young elleth comes in, she must be a maid.

"May I do your hair, my lady."

"Please do." I say, softly, and smiling. "I don't know what to do with it, myself."

The elleth smiles, and bids me to sit down by my dressing table. She begins to brush my hair, gently.

"You have beautiful hair, my lady."

"Please, just call me Aewen. What is your name?"

The elleth looks at me and says: "Calassiel."

"That is a beautiful name." I say.

"Thank you, my lady."

Calassiel takes the outward parts of my long, dark brown hair, and braids them back to connect them. She then ties them together with a tiny, thin silver ribbon.

I hear another knock on my door. This time, it is Legolas.

"Are you ready?" he asks, smiling.

I nod, and take his hand. Oh, this is going to be an interesting night.


	6. Another note

To all my readers:

I am SO sorry that it has been such a long wait….I'm dealing with some big writers block on this story! I will try to post a chapter within the next week. Thank you for reading!

lotrfangirl16


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